Gatortailale

Hopefully the lfs put a union inline on drain line under tank where leaking. You can also buy a python hose you connect to faucet or use a hose to drain overflow to work on it. Unless you go nuts you shouldn’t harm glass as thick as you describe by trying to tighten nut.

If you can gently try to tighten the black nut sitting on glass, may be all that is needed, shouldn’t need to hold bulkhead on inside overflow unless it’s really loose and wobbly. You may be able to take a picture of bulkhead inside overflow to see if you can spot o ring between bulkhead and glass on inside overflow

Randy Holmes-Farley article. https://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/rhf/index.php ESV Bionic is what I use in addition to dripping Kalk. The ESV says to always dose in equal parts. Once you read Randy's article it makes sense why dose equal parts to raise alk. https://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-12/rhf/index.htm "Reef aquarists take great advantage of the 1:1 matching of calcium and alkalinity demand in reef aquaria by using additives that supply calcium and alkalinity in this same ratio. In this way, over- or under-dosing of such balanced calcium and alkalinity additives should not result in skewing the aquarium water's chemistry toward too much calcium and too little alkalinity, or too much alkalinity and too little calcium. On the other hand, independent additions of calcium and alkalinity, even with careful and frequent measurement, often lead to such imbalances."

nova tropicals and Blue Ribbon Koi & marine are waterbox retailers. IM website - looks like have to go 90 miles to authorized dealer - Saltwater Aquarium in PA; or Pacific East in Mardela Spring, MD on way to Ocean City.

Good stuff Graham. I agree about flow, & sand bed is probably a nutrient trap, especially if not using a vac type tool to export detritus. I also agree on adding lots of mouth’s and diversity in cleanup crew. I’ve been struggling in my 112 tank system with hair algae and had it looking better just before Christmas. Then on December 26 found out about detached retina/ 2 surgeries through January 18 and orders to not lift more than a gallon in weight and fear of infecting eye by reaching in tank resulted in setback. I recently added few hundred snails and 700 hermit crabs to try to combat in addition to water changes and harvesting what I could by hand. Keep trying, you will get it addressed.

We had Marc here last summer to speak to the club. I often listen to his videos and many times learn something new and/or get inspired to try something new or it keeps me motivated to keep up with maintenance. Yesterday's video was another interesting topic, and I found myself guilty of posting pictures of things when tank going good but hiding the struggles I've encountered over the 23 years in the hobby. Hope you all enjoy his video and it keeps you inspired to keep trying in the hobby. Post your comments below and share your thoughts and experiences.

Beautiful build start. Looking forward to progress. I liked using Dr. Tim’s on recent seahorse tank i started end Nov 23. Also used water from my main system and few established rocks, & main rock is Marco dead & real reef branch.

You still running the tank? Renew your membership, post some updates and push the views to 300,000. Good to see you still checking in. Iceman recently checked in in the members area, and he was around the club in the early days.

you can see aqua rocks nem holder left side pic here.

It’s a good question. Guess part may depend on getting them to host in anemone(s); then hope anemone is happy and doesn’t walk. I picked up an Aqua Rock s magnetic anemone holder and put it on the end of my 215 last year. It took the sole pair perc clowns I have a day to find anemone after I moved it from center of tank (pulled off rock by repeatedly tapping at foot until it released) and put the the glass jar holder. Anemone has stayed since but female will venture to center of tank or bit farther if she wants food. Male tend to stick closer. Second part if I’m reading right is you want to start with 4 different kinds of percs to end with 2 pairs. I’m no expert, but my hunch is adding 4 similar size you may end up with a pair and 2 juveniles or males. To end up with 2 pairs you might need to either pair up and separate by egg crate. Or add, watch for 2 to pair then try isolate via egg crate on one side and hope you can get other 2 to pair up. If you’re not planning to bread and just want multiple clowns in tank, and hope they may separate and host in anemone on each end it probably will work. Just need to be patient and wait for some to start hosting, then if needed try to separate with egg crates until others host in second anemone. If not planning on anemone, then I’m of little help as they may swim everywhere unless they find a coral or something else to host near. good luck and keep us updated how it goes.

Dang, your reef is almost as old as me. I hit the speed limit sign this summer. Hopefully someday I can make another trip to Long Island and visit in person. Went to see Joe’s aquarium last October.

Welcome back to the reef

Help us spread the word. Feel free to share the photos with friends and on your social media. * Any graphic artist in the community please contact me or an officer if you can help the club develop more meeting media items.

Bought a new 65 RR tank late last year and started cycling end of November. Decided to separate seahorse system from main display system so I could increase temp in main system from 72-73 for seahorse up to 76-77. Thus to my wife's delight I have another aquarium in the house. Started cycling end of November and eye-retina issue forced me to go slow and cycle more. Here is the progress of moving some gorgonian and seahorses from old tank to new one; as well as a few additions. Got few more gorgs to epoxy in but things difficult to see under water with 1 eye & other with partial gas bubble to help heal retina tear repairs. Added flat marco rock last week to hold tree sponge. Magnetic Aquarocks to hold frags on tank walls.

Nice build and good progress.

Cleaning sump - I often use a python hose connected to sink faucet that creates suction to vacuum the detritus; also use the python gravel-vac tube and hose & drain in brute trash can as well if doing bigger cleaning / vacuum the deep sand bed. You can also snag one of those Vivid Creative Aquatics maxi-jet vacuum attachments as a way to power export waste to brute trash can or drain via connected hose. My opinions on a trident are limited, no personal knowledge owning one. I have talked with some experienced members who own then and have no issues with them. I'm also in the Neptune facebook group and see plenty of people asking questions or having issues. It's probably a handy tool if you got the spare money or travel a lot and can't do testing. Seems like you need to be careful when swapping out reagent containers otherwise issues can arise. Connecting MP40 - I think you may need the wxm module that can interface with mp40 wireless signal; or whatever the one is for echotech equipment. Cheap amazon ATO - not sure how you connect it to Apex - base way would be to plug into an outlet on the EB 832 or EB 8 or EB 4 (EB= energy bar); but then you may be taking up an outlet for controlling other items. Otherwise I think you can buy some neptune optical level sensors to program as back for high and low water levels. Might also need to add a FMM module for control them; probably best to learn your Apex and programing statements and get experience before rushing to spend lots money buying accessories. As for quarantine fish/livestock - I'm no expert but have independent tanks funning to QT stuff and mainly use them to get thing settled, eating well and monitor for visible issues. I'm sure we have some members who have experience in using certain medicines, but you need to know what you are doing as use of certain medication varies by species. For what it's worth, Polo Reef Youtube (Adam Sandler in Long Island with the 17,000 home reef tank) put out a video over the weekend on how to QT fish basics that also has a flow chart in description to download. Also good practice is to ask the shop you source your stuff from what meds they use. I've been in the saltwater hobby for almost 23 years and still prefer to use salifert test kits - I did pick up a SR aquatics mag-stir gizmo to assist with the testing and plug results into apex to chart water quality. Fish food - I see you mentioned an auto feeder - depending on quality of foods you are using you may run into issues long-term feeding pellets or flake only. And may be the source of your high phosphates. Lighting - I'm not familiar with the brand you have. Heater - what are you using to control heater - I learned the expensive way in the past of trying to have the Apex control heater via outlet on the EB832. But it's very hard on the outlet to cycle it on and off to control heater. Better off getting a Inkbird temp control - you can get wireless that controls 2 heaters - and use the Apex as your backup to shut off outlet if tank temp exceeds your max safe temp. The inkbird can send alerts to phone/ view over phone app to see tank temp; also makes audible alarm - hear mine when do water change and temp probe exposed to air.

After over 22 years in salt hobby, I found a new happy place in checking my salinity, and my old eyes appreciate it. I picked up a Tropic Marin High Precision Hydrometer and going old school has will be my last stop on gadgets. They can be had for $37 and up depending on the vendor. The TM hydrometer is hand crafted to read water at at 77° F (25° C) - which is great for most of us running tanks around 77-78 F. The thing I like most is it never needs to be re-calibrated. Despite recently trying to calibrate my refractometer the TM hydrometer showed I was off. Likewise, I was able to recalibrate my apex probe with fresh calibration fluid and have confidence now that probe reading is closer in line to what hydrometer is reading tank water at. BRS has a handy video to give overview of the TM hydrometer. Found this handy article on Temp correction for hydrometers: https://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-07/rhf/index.php Simple Salinity Correction Calculator website for unit calibration of 77 F https://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/SalinityCorrection.php Here is discussion on Temp conversion chart for TM Hydrometer. Conversion chart from R2R discussion: Temp Chart Hydro.pdf Note: I picked up a plastic graduated cylinder kit that had sizes up to 250 ml as well as plastic beakers of various sizes - while the Hydrometer will work in the 250 ml cylinder, I'm going to get a 500 ml plastic one as I think that will work better. PS: I bought 2 because it may be a bit delicate and the price was reasonable to have backup on hand. As for verifying my water temps, I picked up one of these Cole-Parmer Traceable Lollipop™ Waterproof Thermometer Ultra with Calibration; ±0.4°C accuracy at tested points and can now calibrate Apex probes, InkBird heater controllers and water temp for Hydrometer. https://www.coleparmer.com/i/traceable-lollipop-waterproof-thermometer-ultra-with-calibration-0-4-c-accuracy-at-tested-points/9876849?searchterm=EW-98768-49

May the Fourth be with you, always. Hope to see you there.

Not sure if excess co2 from calcium reactor will fuel bryopsis, but maybe either add extra chamber to reactor to scrub co2, or use less from reactor and drip more kalk to make up difference. marc Lev & rich Ross in Marc’s live video last Saturday at one point they talked batting nuisance algae, suggested pick out as much by hand, and have many many cleanup crew mouths. good luck hope something works for you

Really neat. Incredible story and cool how she found you online. Thanks for your service; and sharing. Glad you are part of this community.

Update on the named $500 Efflo (via Copps in 2017) - After Sanjay Joshi spoke to the WAMAS club last summer I went back to a full spectrum on Radions Gen4; also last fall started dosing Julian Sprung TwoLittleFishies AcroPower, ReefRoids, & Reef Nutritions Phyto & Oyster. Combination of all = nice growth and deep purple rim. Oct 2023 vs. Feb. 16, 2024.

Not scheduled for 19th. Still working on a date. Got delayed trying to finalize date for Spring meeting first.

Is your rock marco or other natural rock; or is it a man-made type? When you say you took rowa reactor off line - did you pull all the old media out of water? or is it still in the tank water? Have you tested your top-off water to see what phosphate levels show? Assuming you are using RO/DI unit to make water. How old are the filters? If your system permits, could try to get a good refugium light and try growing macro algae in refugium on alternate light cycle. I would do periodic tests with a Salifert or other brand to verify that your apex trident numbers are accurate. It's also curious that if you actually have that high of alk (11.2) that nuisance algae is growing. Generally, I thought nuisance algae doesn't do well when alk over like 9. What supplements are you using to keep alk at 11 & calcium at around 560 - per apex? How long have you used that brand of trace elements and/or Kalk powder? Does it correspond to when started having algae problem? What type of powerheads are you running to create flow to sweep away detritus and waste to minimize dead zones where algae may grow? CBB's have small stomachs so I would caution limiting them to grazing on nori. Generally don't find mysis as the source of a phosphate problem - do you rinse it with RO/DI water before feeding to eliminate some excess stuff in packaging? Marc Lev. who the club had to speak last summer has suggested in videos he has posted that 1) you need to pick out as much algae by hand; 2) do water change; 3) add significant cleanup crew with lots and lots of mouths of various types to attack and eat the algae. What do you have for cleanup crew? One my tanks I had algae issue when I fed it neptune pellets and was able to reduce the algae growth by switching to frozen mysis foods & adding a lot of cleanup crew mouths. Finally, how long during the day are you running lighting schedule?

What type of foods are you using?

Event: WAMAS Spring 2024 Meeting (In-person, not streamed) Saturday, May 4, 2024 Time: 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM (Speaker starts at 2:30 PM) Where: North Bethesda Middle School, 8935 Bradmoor Drive, Bethesda, MD 20817 WAMAS members get in free. Guests are $5 each (paid at the door). Join WAMAS at this link. Agenda: 1:00 Sign-in / socialize / frag sales 2:20 Club business 2:30 Speaker - Colin Foord 3:30 Break 4:00 Raffle! Directions to North Bethesda Middle School: - NOTE: The school is just inside the north edge of the beltway near Old Georgetown Road. Here's a map from Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/bKz79Y9HmQF2 Colin Foord - Marine biologist Colin Foord of Coral Morphologic Talk: Colin will take us through the multimedia art-science hybrid project Coral Morphologic he co-founded in Miami in 2007. He will talk about growing corals in the Coral Morphologic Lab, the Coral City Camera livestreaming project, the future of coral restoration, and how hobbyists can get involved. Bio: Colin Foord is a marine biologist, coral aquaculturist, artist, and filmmaker educated at the University of Miami and James Cook University in Australia. He is co-founder of marine biological art duo Coral Morphologic, through which he developed the world's first multimedia coral aquaculture studio located in the heart of Miami. It is Colin’s mission to bridge the gap between art and science by exploring corals in a relatable fashion, such that people of all ages can relate with the mystery and importance of conserving the world's tropical reefs. Beyond Miami, Colin has dived the reefs of Indonesia, Jamaica, Australia, Fiji, Cook Islands, Bahamas, Hawaii, Arabian Gulf, Colombia, Dominican Republic, and the Solomon Islands. His work has been featured by the BBC, Nat Geo Channel, AP, The New Yorker, the Miami Herald, Vice Magazine, NPR, The New York Times, and CBS Morning News. Special thanks to theses sponsors. Please support them & say thanks next time you shop with them. You can find their website address by visiting their forum or the sponsor page on the WAMAS website. Raffle Prizes: $50 Gift Certificate for Reef Nutrition products (with $40 bump-up for shipping). (2 chances to win!) $100 Gift Certificate for Reef Nutrition products (with $40 bump-up for shipping) The Plank Autofeeder from Avast Marine. $209 value. 1 chance to win! Bulk Reef Supply - 4 stage Value Plus RODI System. $249 value. 1 chance to win! Aqua Illuminations Nero 5 powerhead. $239 value. 1 chance to win! Supreme Reefs: $250 coral pack gift certificate. 2 chances to win! Fritz Blue RPM salt, 200G size from Exotic Reef Creations. 4 chances to win! Seaside Aquatics coral viewer. 1 chance to win! Polyp Labs coral view lens V2. 2 chances to win! Sicce XStream SDC pump. $239 value. 1 chance to win! Air Water Ice TDS meter (3 chances to win!) Two issue trial subscription to Coral Magazine ($20 value) from Aquatic Media Press (4 chances to win) Frank's Tanks - F-Aiptasia Killer. 5 chances to win! Aquaforest AF Perfect Water 5g jug. 1 chance to win! ESV - Nitrate 32oz. 1 chance to win! $50 livestock Gift Certificate from Blue Ribbon Koi. 3 chances to win!! A Reef Boxx II from Puddle Aquatics with free shipping ($135 value)! Coral Candy Aquaculture frags: TCK Flametip Gonipora 20+ heads; Glitterbomb Gonipora 10+heads: 5pc Zoa Pack Rainbow Yodas, Utter Chaos, purple monsters, sonic Flares and exosphere Sponsors On Site, Selling Capital Exotic Fish: @CapitalExoticFish Supreme Reefs: @Supreme Reefs Vendors On Site, Selling Jason Fox Signature Corals: jasonfoxsignaturecorals.com Coveys Coral Cove: https://www.coveyscoralcove.com/ Members On Site, Selling @gws3 @Mr.Chalice Scorpion Corals WAMAS Platinum Sponsors - Air, Water & Ice - AquaHaus - Avast Marine - Blue Ribbon Koi - Capital Exotic Fish - ChemiPure (Boyd Enterprises) - Coral Candy Aquaculture - Coral Magazine - Exotic Reef Creations - Frank's Tanks - Fishnreef.com - ICP Analysis - Maxspect - Puddle Aquatics - Reed Mariculture (Reef Nutrition) - Reef eScape - Reef Nerd Aquatics - SaltwaterAquarium.com - Supreme Reefs WAMAS Banner-Only Sponsors - Bulk Reef Supply - Cobalt Aquatics - Jellyfish Art - MASNA - Two Little Fishies